


What you're made of

by chancellorxofxtrash (PhoebeMurdivine)



Series: Daemons & Naritaverse [5]
Category: Baccano!
Genre: (Felix is the one who's trans), Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials, F/M, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Trans Character, naritaverse, nothing graphic but it starts after Firo's childhood trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6966709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoebeMurdivine/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Firo's daemon settled unusually soon - and then it was a journey for both of them, to figure out the rest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What you're made of

**Author's Note:**

> Quick summary of Daemon AU's and this one in particular:
> 
> \- Every human being has a daemon, from their birth. They are a part of their soul, in a form of an animal, basically a representation of their souls. They are not always follow stereotypes associated with their animals however, there are many different interpretations.  
> \- When they are kids, their daemons often change forms, they are not settled. It's during their teenage years they finally "settle" into their final form, but it changes for everyone.  
> \- Most of the time the daemon's gender is different than the human's.  
> \- Touching someone's daemon is taboo. Especially without consent. It can happen when people are especially close to each other, like lovers, but never publicly. Touching someone's daemon without consent or warning is at the very least uncomfortable, but it can be outright painful.  
> \- Hurting the daemon hurts the human, and vice versa.  
> \- If the daemon dies, the human dies too.  
> \- The daemons of other supernatural beings are explained in later stories.  
> \- Daemons' talk is written in _italics_  
>  \- Vampires' daemons are just as varied as the vampires themselves.  
> \- Homunculi depend a lot on how they were created

Firo almost jumped when he heard the rattle at his window.  
He was curled up on his back, covering himself in his blanket, and he just closed his hand around _her_ , when he looked at the window with the eyes of a cornered, frightened small child that he was.  
His shoulders only relaxed when he saw the elegant landing of someone with bright red hair.  
He still didn’t move, his hands still covered _her_ , but at least he didn’t look like someone about to run anymore.  
„Heya Firo.”  
Claire stood in front of his bed, seemingly unsure about what to say. That couldn’t be right. Claire always knew what to say, it was one of the rules of the universe that the young Firo Prochainezo already understood. Claire was always confident about anything. People thought that Claire was one of those rare people whose daemon’s gender was the same as theirs... but Claire was so sure they were wrong about this. So you just don’t question it. If Claire is that sure about something, you can’t really question it.  
Claire’s daemon, Shannon was not yet settled, and was currently in the form of a cat, as she looked between the two young boys, waiting for whatever.  
„So. I overheard what happened. I think dad didn’t wanna tell us, but he didn’t notice me. Or Luck. Or Berga. ’kay, he definitely noticed Berga. But they can’t really climb up here without dad noticin’, so. Uhh... wanna hug or something?”  
Claire wasn’t a hug-person, so yes, the world was definitely turning upside down now. But Firo just shook his head.  
„Okay, uh. Can I sit down?”  
Firo nodded, and Claire just sat down to the edge of the bed, Shannon also jumping up, now obviously eyeing Firo’s hands, but he still did not really move.  
„How do you do it, Claire?”  
„Hm? Do what?”  
Firo’s voice was very quiet and still shaken, as he looked at Claire with wide eyes.  
„Be so sure that everything will go the way you want it to be.”  
Claire gave it a thought, and then shrugged.  
„Because I make it so. I wanna get what I want, I gotta work for it, ya know? And because this world is mine, I can make it so.”  
„But this world isn’t mine.”  
Firo looked down, and he just felt Claire shifting a little on the bed, but thankfully did not try to touch him.  
„It doesn’t mean you can’t work for it, ya know? You have to show the world what you’re made of.”  
„And what am I made of, Claire?”  
„Dunno. I can’t be the one to tell you. You have to be the one who figures it out.”  
Firo looked back up at his best friend, and watched as the gentle outside light illuminated his face. He really liked to watch Claire’s face, he was almost cute, and not to mention, he was unbearably awesome. Much more awesome of a best friend than Firo deserved.  
Claire’s eyes flickered down to Firo’s hands.  
„Wanna show me?”  
Oh.  
Of course he noticed.  
Firo hesitated for a few moments, also looking down on his hands, before opening it up.  
And in the palm of his hand, there was a small sparrow, blinking up at Claire as well.  
And Claire just smiled.  
„Hullo, Nives. I like your look.”  
Nives ruffled her feathers a little, and a shadow of a smile appeared on Firo’s face.  
„Hey, I think Luck and the others are also worried ’bout you. Wanna meet with them?”  
Firo thought for a few seconds. Of Keith’s supporting hands getting him out of... _there_ , of his wolf daemon carrying Nives on her back, about Berga, and about Luck, and then just looked at his best friend.  
„Can you stay with me here a little bit longer before that? I have some cards we should play.”  
Claire grinned, settling on Firo’s bed more comfortably.  
„Sure thing. But if ya cheat again, I dunno what I’ll do with you.”  
Firo cheated.  
Claire still did nothing, but complained about it a little.  
A lot.  
But it actually made Firo laugh, and Claire smiled upon seeing that, so maybe the future wasn’t that bad after all.

 

By the time Claire decided to leave with the circus, Shannon was already settled as well – a ferret with red eyes and white fur, often hiding under Claire’s jackets, or in his sleeves, just as slippery and agile as Claire himself.  
Firo was not especially happy with Claire leaving with the circus.  
Which was mostly obvious by the fact that Nives tried to fly as high where Shannon could not reach her.  
_„Come on, Nives. Come down. You know I can’t go that far from Claire as you can from Firo.”_  
Nives ruffled her feathers, and hopped one branch further up, and Shannon sighed.  
_„If you don’t come down, then Claire will have to climb up after us so I can follow you. And I don’t think he wants to leave Firo alone in the middle of a conversation. That would be awkward.”  
_ Nives looked down, with a very impressive glare for a tiny sparrow.  
_„Not as awkward as your face. And our best friends leaving.”  
_ Shannon sighed again.  
_„Look, Nives, it’s gonna be okay. Both you are Firo are smart guys. You’ll be fine.”  
_ Nives flew down, so she could look into Shannon’s eyes from up close.  
_„What if he won’t be, huh? We are getting older and older, Keith, Berga and Luck are brought into the family more and more. And I can’t protect Firo.”_  
_„Why couldn’t you?”_  
_„Look at me! Keith, Berga and Luck’s daemons all could settle as predators, and even you are handy...”_  
_„...thanks. I think.”_  
_„The point is... why couldn’t I settle something big as well? Look at me.”_  
Nives finally landed on the branch in front of Shannon, and she looked even smaller than usual – and Shannon lied down, so she could look into her friend’s eyes.  
_„I am looking. And just because you are small, it does not mean you can’t protect Firo, ya know.”_

 

Firo fought with knives.  
And with Nives.  
Yeah, it was hilarious. Basically everyone in the Martillo family thought so, but every time Firo got knocked down, he would get back up, grinding his teeth.  
„Again, please.”  
He’d look up at Ronnie Schiatto, who’d have a different looking daemon every few months or so, and Nives would also flutter there, and he’d ask again.  
He’d move, and Nives would also move, the two of them both engaged in a battle.  
Firo would move left, Nives would move right, confusing the opponent.  
Ronnie did not seem to mind.  
„Aren’t you afraid you’d get hurt?”  
He asked one day, and Nives just ruffled her feathers again.  
_„I’d get hurt if he does as well. We fight together. This is how it is.”_  
Ronnie chuckled, shaking his head.  
„But putting yourself this close to the fight, you make more opportunities for them to hurt you... well, no matter. It’s your choice to figure out what works for you. Shall we continue?”

 

The first human being whom Nives headbutted was Dallas Genoard.  
Firo himself reeled back from the sensation, and even Dallas himself gasped, jumping back in horror.  
_„Yeah you better fucking run you piece of trash.”_  
Firo did not have the heart to correct Nives that Genoard really did not get scared from Nives’ attacks.  
He didn’t even have any time to say anything as Dallas pulled out a knife, and Firo just smirked.

 

Ennis did not have a daemon.  
Szilard obviously did not feel the need to create one for her, and for a long while, Ennis did not feel like missing anything.  
It wasn’t until... well, until later when she started to feel some aching, some feeling of loneliness, which had nothing to do with the fact that Szilard was her only companion. Szilard, and the scorpion who was hiding in his pocket most of the time.

 

Firo at first did not even notice that Ennis had no daemon.  
Sure, he didn’t see a daemon around her, but that was nothing new – Shannon after all was often hiding under Claire’s clothes, even Nives herself was often out from view at first glance.  
It wasn’t until he devoured Szilard that he realised the truth.  
He asked Maiza’s help, and one day the three of them sat down, and Ennis told them everything – about Szilard, and about Zank, the alchemist she devoured, and how it started something within her moved, and there had been this sense of... emptyness, of something missing.  
Maiza hummed, with Leda, his owl also looking thoughtful.  
„I think... your body, your soul... it’s trying to create a daemon.”  
Firo and Ennis both just looked at him, confused, as Maiza sighed, and fixed his glasses before elaborating.  
„When you were created, you were created without a daemon – but since then, you devoured someone, who did have a daemon, and your body is trying to compensate. It really depends on Szilard’s research, if there can be something to do with it, but...”  
Firo cringed, as he turned his look towards the floor.  
He did not like to look into his memories... but Maiza looked at him, waiting for an answer, and Ennis, oh the hope in Ennis’ eyes... he just had to.  
So he took a deep breath and skimmed through Szilard’s memories, trying to concentrate on how he created homunculi.  
„I think he just... didn’t care that much. He thought homunculi are... less than human, as tools... so they don’t need one. He never really looked into how could he give one. Sorry.”  
He looked at Ennis in an apologetic way – both for the thoughts of the old man, and the news, but Ennis just smiled softly.  
She already knew that about Szilard, and she knew it was not Firo’s fault.  
Maiza sighed again, leaning forward, looking into Ennis’ eyes.  
„Look, we still don’t know much about how daemons are created, how and why do they appear. Maybe your body will figure it out. But I promise I’ll look into it, whether we can speed it up.”  
„We have time, don’t we?” Ennis asked with a small smile.

 

Time passed, and lot of things happened. Czes moved in with them, more homunculi showed up, without any daemons as well, seemingly their creator didn’t care that much either, Claire changed his name to Felix, and...  
And one day, Ennis woke up Firo from his sleep with shining eyes.  
„Firo... Firo look!”  
It was a day after the Mist Wall incident, and Firo was very, very tired.  
But Ennis’ eyes were shining and were those...  
„Ennis, are you crying?!”  
He immediately set up, but Ennis just extended her hands.  
„I woke up with him here.”  
In her hands there was a small goldfinch.  
_„Um. Hi. I... think I should introduce myself, right? I just. Don’t have a name. Yet.”_

 

Ennis ended up naming him Maverick, and Nives was pretty inseparable from him from that point on.

 

When Firo got arrested, he wasn’t even baffled that Nives ended up flying at Victor Talbot’s face, when he brought up how... popular Firo might be in prison. Not even when the force of the impact shattered Victor’s glasses.  
It was hard to tell who was cursing more – Victor or Nives.  
„Tame your fucking daemon, got it?”  
„Sorry. She doesn’t take it well when our friends are threatened. Or when we are made fun of.”  
Firo’s voice was chilly, but he extended his hand and Nives landed on his open palm, still with mostly puffed feathers.  
They might be going to prison, but there are some things they could not handle.

 

As much as Nives was ready to fight basically all the time, she still couldn’t do much against a flock of falcons, though, and when she saw Firo go to his knees, bleeding over and over, Nives let out the most pitiful cries, even though the falcons mostly ignored her.  
Firo would dream about Nives’ cries for months to come.

 

 _„I couldn’t protect you.”_  
They were already free, when Nives said this, as they were walking back to the Alveare, and Firo just smiled.  
„It’s okay. We are immortal, remember?”  
_„You still got hurt. I promised myself years ago I will protect you. Now look at us.”_  
„We are free. That’s all that matters, Nives.”  
But when Annie revealed herself, Firo had to grab Nives with one of his hands, to stop her from attacking their waitress for seemingly no reason.

 

Next year... 1935 was chaotic. So many things happened, and quite frankly, Firo was tired of talking about it.  
But Ennis could not forget Melvi’s eyes, as he knelt down in front of a caged Maverick, with wonder and envy clear in his eyes.  
Melvi also did not have a daemon.  
„Interesting. You are so different of a person now, that you now obviously have a proof of having a soul as well.”  
With this, Melvi just touched the cage.  
And then yanked back his hand with a yelp.  
The bleeding obviously healed quite soon, but Maverick shook his feathers – in a way reminiscent of Nives.  
And Ennis couldn’t help but smile.

 

Many, many years had to pass, and Firo found it easier than he sometimes thought it’d be. He had the Martillos never-changing, and even after Maiza and Czes left, he always knew they’d come back. There were the three Gandor brothers, also unchanging, and of course he had Ennis.  
It was the fourth Gandor brother, who unknowingly ended up reminding him that it was not all perfect.  
„Look at that, Firo. I literally went gray, waitin’ for you to get hitched, whatcha’ got to say to that?”  
It was Firo’s wedding, and Felix was actually right about it, as usual. His hair was definitely losing it’s original bright red colour, there were wrinkles, especially around his eyes, but his grin didn’t change at all in the decades Firo had known him.  
„I say that good things are worth the wait, Felix.”  
His best friend laughed, slapping heartily him on the back – for his age, Felix was still remarkably strong, so Firo staggered a little.  
„That’s the spirit, Firo. Now go and dance with your wife, would ya?”  
Firo stepped a few steps forward, before stopping, and turning back.  
„Hey Felix.”  
„Hm?”  
„I figured it out. What I’m made of.”  
Felix looked confused for a few moments, and then just grinned.  
„Did ya? That’s great. Told ya, that you are the one who has to figure that out didn’t I?”  
Firo smiled and just gestured around them.  
„I can’t exactly put it into words, but... this feels right. Does this make sense?”  
„Of course it does. As long as you get it, no one else has to, ya know. You don’t owe anyone an explanation ’bout yourself.”  
It was comforting, and Firo just went to his bride to ask her for a dance.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so. New daemons! Firo, Maiza and Ronnie already turned up in a previous story, so I'm not listing them here again
> 
> Felix Walken's daemon - Shannon, ferret  
> Ennis' daemon - Maverick, goldfinch  
> Keith Gandor's daemon - name unknown (yet), wolf  
> Szilard Quates' daemon - name unknown (yet), scorpion
> 
>  
> 
> Also I'll probably never get used to calling Ronnie as "Ronny" so at least he stays as such here. Same about "well, no matter". Maybe one day I'll get used to it.  
> Also I don't like referring to Felix as Claire, but I sort of had to this time so...  
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
